SCSU graduates say they are prepared for the future

By Brian Zahn

Updated 6:14 pm, Thursday, May 17, 2018

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Media: New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN — In an arena full of gowns, more than 1,200 graduates from Southern Connecticut State University might look roughly the same Friday , but many of those receiving their diplomas took their own journey to do so.

In the graduating class are a mother and daughter pair; a daughter of refugees leaving college with top honors; and researchers blazing a trail for survivors of sexual assault.

Graduate Jonathan Gonzalez-Cruz said he didn’t plan to be an activist. As an undocumented high school sophomore in North Haven, he experienced his father being deported to Mexico.

Commencement ceremonies for Southern Connecticut State University begin at the Webster Bank Arena Friday.

Commencement ceremonies for Southern Connecticut State University begin at the Webster Bank Arena Friday.

Photo: Arnold Gold — New Haven Register

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The newly renovated and expanded Hilton C. Buley Library at SCSU.

The newly renovated and expanded Hilton C. Buley Library at SCSU.

Photo: COURTESY SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY

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SCSU campus

SCSU campus

Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media

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SCSU graduates say they are prepared for the future

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“It has definitely changed my career path,” he said. “Initially I wanted to work in the financial sector, but after I became involved I realized my true passion was to help advocate for immigration reform.”

Gonzalez-Cruz, an economics and mathematics double major, said his subsequent involvement in the advocacy group Connecticut Students for a Dream introduced him to policy and advocacy work.

“A lot of people think that Connecticut is very immigrant friendly, which is true compared to other states, but deportations still happen here,” he said. “My reaction was to remain in the shadows and not expose myself or my family.”

After the election of President Donald Trump, who campaigned with tough-on-immigration promises, Gonzalez-Cruz said his thinking changed.

“I woke up thinking about my own father’s deportation and thought about the families I had worked with,” he said. “I had this moment where I knew I could stand down and let whatever happens happen, or I could take an active role.”

In traveling to Washington, D.C., with Connecticut Students for a Dream, he caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who shared his story on the Senate floor.

This year, a bill to give undocumented students who have established residency in Connecticut access to institutional aid in higher education, monitored closely by Connecticut Students for a Dream, passed the Connecticut legislature.

Gonzalez-Cruz said his adviser, Deborah Savage, is “family at this point” for being considerate of his feelings any time issues impacting undocumented families were in the news.

“Having her be there helped solidify that Southern was the place I wanted to stay at,” he said.

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Fellow graduate Terri Lane said when she crosses the podium , she’ll receive her first bachelor’s degree.

“The business degree? I left that life behind. It doesn’t count,” she said.

Lane said she believed wholeheartedly in the work she did on energy and the environment with United Illuminating for 20 years, but music has been the one constant for her since early childhood.

“I’d been through horrible abuse and violence in my family. It stunted my growth,” she said. “The music was a saving thing for me. The fact I was born with a gift saved my life.”

At 3 years old, she said she was plunking piano keys, and at 11 a music teacher recognized her talent. Even through her corporate career, she had been performing professionally, recording, writing and performing smooth rock songs since she was 18.

She said she began teaching private lessons in 2000 for friends’ children, and a decade later a friend let her know about an opening for an associate professor of music at the University of New Haven.

“I was hired without a formal interview and I didn’t have any music degree,” she said.

Upon revisiting old documents, she found a writing test from when she was 7 saying her dream job was that of a singer and a teacher.

“I think the law of attraction was working from very early on,” she said. “The music began to take on a life of its own. I went on the road and things just exploded for me then.”

Her travels also led her to meet and collaborate with prominent artists such as Johnny Winter.

“It was a big transition in my life. Now I’m concentrating on my music and on my education and doing more as an instructor,” she said.

SCSU, she said, was the only choice for her because of the strength of the music program and the professors.

“They’re all just so masterful at what they do,” she said.

Lane said she realized through teaching that music is capable of healing more than just herself.

“My students, many are riddled with anxiety and lack of identity. There’s a social disconnect with them,” she said. “They don’t feel they belong anywhere and have trouble speaking up for themselves.”

In pursuing her passion as a music teacher, her next step is attending Teachers College, Columbia University.

“After everything I’ve been through, I didn’t think I could be this happy,” she said. “This is a joyous time.”

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John Priest, another graduate, also will receive his degree to enhance the work to which he’s already dedicated himself.

Priest, originally from Cheshire, is the school’s first graduate from its Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy program. He has worked at the Boston Children’s Hospital for 10 years, and currently operates an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine for babies.

“It’s a really broad patient population. You see a little bit of everything, and that is just from one to the next,” he said.

Although he began working with an adult population, it was his wife who convinced him to make the change to Boston Children’s Hospital.

“I see it all and do it all,” he said. “And the reputation of the hospital helps.”

After initially entering his field with an associate degree, Priest said he made the decision recently to return to school to complete his bachelor’s degree.

For his capstone project, he examined the hospital’s anticoagulation data from the last two years to evaluate how the extracorporeal membrance oxygenation machine could impact blood clotting.

“One of the potential problems is, because your body sees the machine and tubing as a foreign object, your blood begins to clot. Too much clot or not enough clot and it can lead to traumatic or catastrophic events,” he said.

Ultimately, his conclusion was that evaluating trends in anticoagulation data can be more reliable than checking hourly datapoints.

“There’s no reliable testing in the patient population less than one year old,” he said.

As far as being the first to graduate from SCSU with his degree, he said he finds it “neat.”

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Health also matters to graduate Tracy Tenesaca, a public health major, who wrote her thesis on food insecurity and academic performance.

In her thesis, which she will publish, she found a correlation between food insecurity and poor diet and grade point average.

From a sample of 133 students, she said there was a strong correlation between the consumption of high quality meat and fruits and a high GPA, and a strong correlation between a poor diet and a low GPA.

She said she also extended her research to include food insecurity, which means students are financially unable to keep a consistently high quality and nutritious diet, and found associations between food insecurity and GPA.

“I genuinely like the health field,” Teneseca said. “I’ve been a personal trainer since I was 17.”

Teneseca, a bodybuilder and daughter of Ecuadorean parents, said health has been her passion, so the preventative nature of public health appeals to her.

“I want to help people prevent illnesses and diseases before they have to be treated for them,” she said. “It’s been a great four years being able to advocate for communities that need more help with their health and get through their days.”

Getting a degree in public health also has made her more empathetic, she said.

“I actually sympathize, because I have rheumatoid arthritis and I’m an advocate for chronic illnesses,” she said. “Since I’ve gone through that myself, I want to make a difference.”

Teneseca said she believes she is prepared for life after graduation because of SCSU’s faculty and its honors college.